Choosing Between Offers

[Cromulent Flurp]

I expect I'm not the only one who already has a difficult choice to make between offers. Mine is between Boulder and WashU, and I specialize in ethics and metaethics. I'm really into the outdoors, but am an international student and more interested in living in heartland America than somewhere mostly white and rich, and I would like to keep working with underprivileged kids, which St Louis  would be good for. (I also really like the great things for kids there, like the museums, zoo, and amusement parks; that's the kind of thing I do for fun in a city). Significantly, the WashU offer is for six years, rather than five, and the funding per year is much higher than at Boulder. Boulder has more people doing ethics, but Julia Driver at WashU would be one of the best people anywhere for me to work with. 

Any thoughts, and what's your dilemma?

[brush]

I graduated from CU (undergrad) so if you have any particular questions I can give you my (biased) perspective. As for what you brought up:

Boulder's obviously has lots of outdoor activities and the view of the flatirons is amazing.

Boulder has its white rich neighborhoods, but its not totally without diversity. There's a sizable hispanic population here (you can see the exact demographics here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder,_Colorado#Demographics). For what its worth, while I was a student I volunteered in a local middle school tutoring first generation college bound students (many of which were hispanic). I expect you'll be pretty busy with your PhD program though so I'm not sure how much time you can reasonably expect to devote to such activities.

For zoos and amusement parks you'll have to go to Denver (30ish minute drive). There's usually plenty to do in Boulder and its immediate surroundings though (mostly outdoor type activities).

And I of course think the faculty are fantastic.

edit: also weed is legal here

Edited February 19, 2016 by brush

[Cromulent Flurp]

11 hours ago, brush said:

I graduated from CU (undergrad) so if you have any particular questions I can give you my (biased) perspective. As for what you brought up:

Boulder's obviously has lots of outdoor activities and the view of the flatirons is amazing.

Boulder has its white rich neighborhoods, but its not totally without diversity. There's a sizable hispanic population here (you can see the exact demographics here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder,_Colorado#Demographics). For what its worth, while I was a student I volunteered in a local middle school tutoring first generation college bound students (many of which were hispanic). I expect you'll be pretty busy with your PhD program though so I'm not sure how much time you can reasonably expect to devote to such activities.

For zoos and amusement parks you'll have to go to Denver (30ish minute drive). There's usually plenty to do in Boulder and its immediate surroundings though (mostly outdoor type activities).

And I of course think the faculty are fantastic.

edit: also weed is legal here

Thanks very much, Brush. I've been looking at Denver actually, and see a lot of things there that would remove St Louis's advantage over Boulder, but I don't drive (I cycle) and it's a remarkable hour and a half by bus. On the other hand, I am so into outdoor activities that Boulder would be amazing. 

[thomasphilosophy]

15 hours ago, Cromulent Flurp said:

I expect I'm not the only one who already has a difficult choice to make between offers. Mine is between Boulder and Wash U, and I specialize in ethics and metaethics. I'm really into the outdoors, but am an international student and more interested in living in heartland America than somewhere mostly white and rich, and I would like to keep working with underprivileged kids, which St Louis  would be good for. (I also really like the great things for kids there, like the museums, zoo, and amusement parks; that's the kind of thing I do for fun in a city). Significantly, the Wash U offer is for six years, rather than five, and the funding per year is much higher than at Boulder. Boulder has more people doing ethics, but Julia Driver at Wash U would be one of the best people anywhere for me to work with. 

Any thoughts, and what's your dilemma?

 

In terms of location, I don't think there is a question between the two, especially if the outdoors is a major factor. Boulder is known as one of the best places to live in the US. It's a beautiful place, with easy access to some awesome mountains. The city is funky/cool/artsy; the people are interesting/smart; and it is constantly ranked the happiest place in the US. St. Louis, on the other hand, is thought to be a pretty shitty city (I've never been there so I cannot attest to this.)

And of course, Boulder is near Denver... and Denver is awesome!

In terms of philosophy, though, I'm not sure. That's up to you.

Edited February 19, 2016 by thomasphilosophy